To ask if anyone in rl has ever actually met anyone who is 'offended by a poppy?

[Whatsername17]

My Facebook feed is full of memes declaring that people are going to 'wear their poppy with pride and they don't care who they offend'. My nan is the latest culprit and I've called her out on it. Cue lots of her friends spouting racist bollocks about people not being able to sell them blah blah. My nan spouting shit about what a good heart I have because I can't see the bad in people. I'm 34. I'm not a fucking child. And breathe!

Nope, never met or heard anyone in rl taking offence. It's Ridiculous Racists again - lying to stir people up, and many fall for this nonsense every time

Greebz - The purple poppy commemorates the animals of war; the war horses, bomb sniffer dogs etc.

I've known people to be offended by poppies, but I live in N Ireland so it's not difficult to understand why they're contentious.

Oh god it's poppy-geddon. I hate this time of year.

Red, white, purple or no poppy who cares? Does anyone actually think the ghosts of the war dead are affected in any way?

People choose to wear them or not for their own personal reasons so let them be.

The only people I've met who are offended by the poppy are those that are anti war/anti establishment types who dislike the ' forced nature ' of poppy wearing and possibly see it as glorifying war.

Wear one or don't, but can't we just leave people to their choice without being personally triggered.

I'm not remotely 'offended' by any colour of poppy anyone may choose to wear.

I do find the BBC's enforcement of red poppy wearing for all irritating to the point that it might get near to feeling offended.

I dislike the RBL as a charity and won't donate to it. I know they do a lot of good but they are firm partners with major weapons manufacturers which many actually ethical charities exclude dealings with in their policies.

I do think it is offensive that those who suffered shell shock / what we would today call PTSD and either ended up being shot by their own side or (if they were very very lucky) discharged were excluded from the support for survivors and bereaved families and from commemoration of the dead (I know the RBL now works with the Shot at Dawn campaign but they were opposed for many years previously)

As others have said, it may have begun as commemoration of the dead but it is now coopted as a right wing symbol which is tied up with xenophobia and the very same drum-beating unthinking patriotism and war-enthusiasm that the first poppy-wearers were firmly against. As a symbol it has become corrupted.

I won't wear a red poppy.

If I was going to be offended by a poppy it would be the purple ones. Apart from anything else, I find the idea of appropriating such a venerable symbol and adding new colors distasteful.

Yes, purple for animals.

I think the Poppy season goes on for too long. I would never wear one before the start of November, and usually (and I'm sure in my youth) they weren't widely worn until after Guy Fawkes. Now they seem to have been on BBC for at least a week and it's not a Hallowe'en yet.

Hitler would have been more than happy to have a peace with Britain - like he did with Ireland.

Hitler respected Irish neutrality - apart from the bombing of Dublin "by mistake" - because it suited him. If Britain had fallen to the Nazis Ireland would have been next and their rule would have been what it was everywhere. Ireland lived in safety under British then American protection.

In early 1942 Roosevelt considered taking back the Treaty Ports by force for use in the U boat war and only desisted because Salazar - right-wing dictator as he was - gave the Allies the use of the Azores. What would the Irish government have done about it?

Sadly i have meet people who are annoyed offended that Christmas and easter are taught as there relious beliefs meant that they didnt want there children exposed to other relgions they were a strict set (othadox jewish) i cannot remeber the exact name of the sect though luckly the school did not bow to there unreasonable demends

I don't wear one and am asked why not at least once every year, usually by colleagues. I'm not offended by others wearing them but on the other hand people seem to get very offended by the fact that I don't. All of the aggro in my experience comes the other way - from those who think everyone should wear one. Even the "offended by a poppy" stuff seems to me to be invented by the right wing as an excuse to target muslims/other minorities as unpatriotic or un-British. It's yet another example of the frightening way that this country is becoming more hostile to "foreigners".

I'm amazed at how some parents think that they can just avoid such things when they live in a country that has them!

I'd rather kids learned about other religions and the customs in the country in which they live/are nationals of, rather than be ill informed, suspicious, and have a feeling of superiority over (as sadly some religious types can be).

I live and work in London and I certainly don't dare to wear a poppy because of all the people it would anger.

... yeah right, what a load of garbage!! In fact it's noticeable how many people from different backgrounds wear them. It's just nonsense spewed out by the press and the occasional public body who's desperate to be politically correct without thinking to check whether any of the people they are trying not to offend would even be offended.

(As a tiny anecdote, a friend of mine whose family are from India and who run a shop in streatham said they get really pissed off when people go on about Christmas offending Muslims and other religions. they love Christmas and it's the best time of the year for their shop. Nobody has actually bothered to ask them what they think!)

I work and live in central London and nobody's ever bothered me about my poppy.

Gosh - there must be a lot of incredibly brave people in London! Wearing their poppies openly like that on the Tube and everything......

I wear a red poppy for the reasons of remembrance, a reminder of the true cost of war: a simple, plain poppy.
The “glitzy” poppies you see ‘celebs’ wearing in tv make me - is it really a fashion item (?!?) or are they showing that they’re donating more by buying the more expensive version or what? To me, that’s not what it’s about.

I used to live in Tooting, and nobody so much as ever glanced at my poppy 🙄 All this rubbish about Muslims (which is always the subtext of this) being 'offended' is just that IME - rubbish.

I don't find poppy's offensive. I think anyone who wants to wear one can but I personally will never chose to.
I think insisting everyone must confirm and wear one is wrong though. Its a choice not an obligation to support the armed forces.

Adding myself to the group if I am Irish and will never wear a red poppy mainly due to my nationality and family history. It also was never a tradition where I grew up(another western Irish here who didn't know what the poppy was until watching the BBC and asking)
Personally the reason I won't wear one is due to the history of british colonisation and the atrocities commit by the British army, plus family obligations(my grandparents would turn in their graves at the idea of a family member supporting the british army)Personally I feel it would be offensive to their memory and to their family struggles and legacy of fighting the british army and british rule to wear one.

I also am not army fan in general.
I currently live in Australia and find the propaganda and glorification of war involved in Anzac day quite sad. It was a waste of young lives and they were used as cannon fodder.....thats isn't something I find wonderful and heroic and a good reason to encourage youngsters to join the army....I just find it terribly terribly sad.Yes we should never forget..but we also should never repeat!

I live and work in London and I certainly don't dare to wear a poppy because of all the people it would anger.

Huh??

I live in London. My work is in London. I've been on trains and buildings directly affected in attacks (going back to the IRA bombs) and on 7/7 my then 15yr old was on the train immediately before the one bombed - it took me several of the longest hours of my life to confirm he was ok.

It would never occur to me that I couldn't wear a poppy in London. I have no idea what alternate reality you live in.

I've got a 'glitzy' poppy. I bought it from the Poppy Shop. I don't tend to buy the paper ones because they fall off. We still put money in the tins though.

I, too, live and work in central London and it doesn't require "daring" to wear a red poppy. What alternate reality is that poster living in?

Did anyone see the red poppy installation in the moat at the Tower of London? That was very striking.

I've met a few muslims who are. They were nutters in all aspects though and are under Prevent.

I don't understand why anyone would take issue with it.

But I'm Australian, so am probably missing something here.

I live and work in London and I certainly don't dare to wear a poppy because of all the people it would anger.

Daily Mail reader, are you?

I always thought it was about remembering all those who gave their life and to remind us that wars are futile. That's why I have worn one in the past. I'm not even British.

Lol, worra!